FILE - In this Nov. 12, 2006 file photo, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony answers journalists' questions following a meeting with UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland at Ri-Kwamba in southern Sudan. A senior U.S. military official confirmed Monday, March 24, 2014 that the U.S. is sending at least four CV-22 Osprey aircraft and about 150 more Air Force special operations members and airmen to assist African forces in their long-running battle against Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, (LRA) (AP Photo/Stuart Price, Pool, File)

Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army

Warlord Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army rebel group is increasingly trafficking in ivory and minerals to obtain weapons and other supplies to be used in the jungles of central Africa, watchdog groups said in a report released Wednesday.

The rebels' illegal trade in ivory, diamonds and gold may be linked to the group's efforts to improve relations with other armed groups such as Central African Republic's Seleka militia, said the report by Enough Project, Invisible Children and The Resolve.

Kony's LRA comprises a few hundred fighters who are being hunted down by African Union troops as well as U.S. advisers. The Ugandan-led African forces are operating in South Sudan, Central African Republic, and occasionally Congo. But they are not authorized to cross into a disputed enclave known as Kafia Kingi, Sudanese military-controlled territory where Kony himself is widely thought to be hiding.